Truth Will Prevail
by Forgotten Lake
Summary: Background for the series. How Ran and Shinichi meet, why they're such good friends, and other various explanations.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not nor will I ever own Case Closed.

**Truth Will Prevail**

_The First Truth_

Shinichi scowled at his feet. Stupid parents. Stupid babysitter. At least his parents had the foresight to bribe him with another volume in his Sherlock Holmes collection, a "going away" present, since his father apparently wanted some inspiration for his newest story. He was still annoyed that they left him, but he at least got a book for it. His babysitter, though, hadn't wasted a minute. As soon as his parents were gone, she was all for dragging him to the park.

Now, why would anyone want to go to the park after getting a new book?

Exactly.

However, his supposedly more intelligent and responsible babysitter did not seem to understand this. He'd wondered at her determination, but as soon as they reached the park the reason was obvious. She was meeting someone here. She'd run off the instant that they reached the correct side of the road, and practically leapt into what was obviously her boyfriend's arms. Ever since then he'd been left to sit on a park bench and wait while she flirted and giggled. And did a few other things that he really thought was something people were supposed to do privately.

Insipid person.

He could just picture that book sitting at home too. Beautiful leather cover, crisp, cream colored pages all filled with the most incredible detective ever to grace the written arts.

And where was he? Seventeen blocks away because he was not technically old enough to be by himself. So what if he was seven years, three months? They trusted that girl to watch him, and he knew he had a higher IQ.

Okay, he wasn't being nice, but he was in a grumpy mood. And he did have a higher IQ.

"Hi!" a way too bright voice for such a depressing day such as this (it was about 83 degrees, sunny, with just enough clouds to keep comfortable) chirped.

Shinichi looked up, inwardly wondering, "Now what?"

There was a girl, probably around his age and height. She had brown hair up in two buns (must have a foreign parent) and blue eyes. She wore a pink tank top and a white skirt with matching white sandals. She was girly.

"Hello," Shinichi said, working up a slight amount of enthusiasm for his voice. After all, he was supposed to be polite, especially to girls.

"Do you want to play?" she asked, tilting her head up at him, since after all, the bench gave him the height advantage.

Shinichi sighed. Playing would at least decrease his boredom, but..."I can't. If I move, my less then adequate babysitter would doubtless be unable to locate me when she is ready to cease her overly enthusiastic improper public relations with her amorous boyfriend." The only reason he felt being safe in being so openly rude was that he'd noticed that kids his age didn't tend to understand words longer then two syllables, and two, because most of the time when he used that sort of language it discouraged further attempts at friendship. He hadn't really had much luck with kids his age to date, and didn't wish to deal with any more depressing things today.

He waited for the girl, whose name he still didn't know, to either express her confusion, or at least show some discouragement. Instead, she looked around, and, easily spotting his babysitter and her boyfriend "engaging in public relations" (not that they were that difficult to spot) she nodded. Did that meant she actually had a half-way decent vocabulary? Crap, did that mean she actually knew that he was being rude?

"Oh. Can I sit with you then?" she asked. Shinichi, slightly surprised, nodded.

"Sure. Um, did you just understand all the words I said?" he asked, not sure if he'd rather have her understand and hope for a halfway intelligent conversation, or that she didn't know that he been mocking someone about ten years older then him. Unfortunately, though he had a large vocabulary and a brilliant mind, he hadn't quite mastered the art of polite conversation among peers yet since he hardly had the opportunity to practice.

The girl wrinkled her nose and glared at him. "Of course I did! I'm not stupid!"

"Well, most kids your age wouldn't!" Shinichi replied.

"What do you mean my age? You're my age too!" the girl replied.

"Physically, maybe," Shinichi said.

"Are you saying that you're smarter then me?" the girl asked huffily, arms folded.

Shinichi finally realized he was treading dangerous, possibly deadly waters and retreated (er...repositioned the troops to a more strategic location) "No! I'm just saying that I'm smarter then most kids my age, and I didn't know that you were too, and didn't think you knew all the words I used because I didn't know that you had a broad vocabulary!"

The girl blinked, processing it all as Shinichi watched, fervently hoping he hadn't estranged the first person his age that could use his or her respective brain. "Oh. I guess that's okay then. Why did you use words you thought I wouldn't understand?"

Shinichi paused, and then said, "I'm kinda of annoyed at my babysitter, but didn't want to get in trouble for saying anything mean."

"Oh. Well, you could be a little nicer, though if she's supposed to be watching you she's doing a really bad job," the girl commented, hopping up besides him.

Shinichi brightened slightly. "Exactly! I didn't even want to come to the park, and she dragged me down her anyways so that she could meet with her boyfriend, even when she's supposed to be doing a job, not goofing off!"

"Grown ups are weird. Why didn't you want to go to the park though? I think it's pretty," the girl said.

"Before they left, my parents gave me a new book," Shinichi said nonchalantly, "The parks nice and everything, but I'd rather be reading my book then be at the park."

"What about me?" the girl asked.

"Huh?" Shinichi replied.

"I know you want to read a book, but don't you like talking to me?" the girl asked.

The corner of Shinichi's mouth moved upwards slowly. "You're not too bad, for a girl."

"I'm Ran. Mouri Ran, but you can call me Ran. What's your name?" Ran asked.

"I'm Kudo Shinichi, but you can call me Shinichi. Why do you like the park so much anyways? I mean, it's nice to look at, but isn't it kind of boring?" Shinichi asked.

"Boring? No! I love looking at all the plants, all of the people! Isn't it amazing, how nature started from little one-celled creatures, and over the millennia evolved into this? Birds, plants, trees, animals, humans? Isn't it magnificent?!" Ran gushed.

Shinichi looked around, and blinked. "You know, I never thought about it that much. It's always been there. The best thing about a park for me is watching how everyone interacts. You can learn so much from watching people."

Ran tilted her head slightly. "Yeah, that's true."

"Excuse me," a strange, disturbing voice said, "But I find I must interrupt this little discussion."

Both children looked up, and were alarmed to see a stranger. Both children, more then well-versed in the fact that strangers could easily equal bad, frowned.

"No one is forcing you to interrupt us, are they?" Shinichi asked. He looked towards his babysitter, and scowled. Still busy. Maybe if he yelled?

He hadn't noticed, but Ran, too, had been looking for her father, and unfortunately, she couldn't locate him either.

Even less fortunately the man had noticed their actions. He scowled and it certainly didn't improve his looks. He was ordinary enough, 5 foot seven, black hair, brown eyes, roundish face. Something about how he was looking at them was deeply disturbing, however.

"All right kids, don't expect any help from anyone else, 'cause you ain't getting it. And don't scream either, 'cause the minute you do I'm going to put a bullet through the other's skull," he growled menacingly, though quietly.

"Oh shit!" was Shinichi's first thought, especially as he realized that the man was wearing a coat in this weather to hide his gun, which he briefly flashed to show the kids. He knew shit was a bad word, of course, but his father had sat him down, and explained that those particular sorts of words were only to be used in very, very special occasions, especially ones in which his mother was not around to hear.

He thought this qualified.

"Now, you two are going on a car ride with me," the man said quietly, "you're not going to fuss, and so I'm not going to have to shoot you, right?"

Shinichi gulped, and he felt his hand being grasped by Ran's. He nodded, knowing that cooperation was best in these sorts of circumstances. Apparently Ran nodded too, because the man gave a short jerk of his head as he smiled in a self-satisfied manner.

"Good. Now you're going to stand up, and walk in front of me. Act ordinary, okay? Get off the bench, slowly," he ordered. They stood up, still holding hands tightly. Shinichi looked around. They were supposed to walk, but where?

"To your left. You do know which way is left, right?" the man asked.

"Of course we do!" Ran said. The man glared down at her, and she shrank back slightly.

"You will absolutely not smart off to me, you little idiot. If we weren't in public, I'd slap you. Now, walk!" he hissed loudly.

Shinichi, being on the left side, turned and followed the path, drawing Ran along with him. He wasn't sure if he wanted anyone to notice or not. If they noticed, the kidnapper might get nervous and shoot someone, but he really, really wanted someone to save them from this.

However, as they got farther and farther away from people, with no one noticing or caring, any hope of a dubious rescue faded. He and Ran were stuck, their lives hanging by a string the kidnapper controlled. He could die.

He would likely die.

Shinichi shivered slightly. The idea of death at his age was deeply disturbing. He knew that crimes were not confined to the pages of a mystery. He also knew that it could happen to anyone. However, this had all been clinical thoughts, never truly sinking in that it might actually happen to him, a kid! He was only seven!

They approached a blue car, and it looked almost as ordinary as the man. He couldn't see the license plate, but vowed the first chance he got to memorize it, in hopes that he might be able to use the information to good effect later.

"Get in," the man ordered, "the doors unlocked."

Ran and Shinichi looked at each other, their grips on the other's hand tight enough to seriously hinder blood circulation in that region. Shinichi gulped and used his other hand to open the door then climbed in with Ran following. Shinichi climbed all the way over to the other side, and Ran, opting for the slight security of sitting close to someone else rather then comfort, sat besides him in the middle seat instead of the slightly more comfortable seat on the other side.

Shinichi looked at the door he sat besides, and was almost tempted to run for it while the man got it, but he hesitated too long. The guy was in, the doors were locked, and they were off.

It was quiet for a few minutes, though Shinichi's mind felt besieged between various thoughts and feelings. The silence, however, was interrupted when Ran burst out, "Where are you taking us? Why?"

The man chuckled. It wasn't a pleasant sound. "You don't have a choice either way, girl. As for why? Because you were there, because you were convenient. You just had bad luck, or someone up here really doesn't like you. "Bad for you, good for me."

We didn't do anything though!" Ran said, her lips trembling slightly.

"So? That's the way the world works. Now, shut your mouth, or I'm shutting you up, permanently. That goes for the both of you. I don't need two kids-one will be more then sufficient. My gun is handy, and has a silencer. The blood stain in my car would be aggravating, but I could handle it," the man said. Shinichi gulped, and looked over at Ran. Their eyes meet, terror conveyed in equal portions from either side.

It wasn't but a couple minutes later that they were pulling over, parking in a parking lot besides an apartment complex. "Get out," the man ordered, and the two quickly obeyed."We're going to go over to 3B, and you're going to stay in front of me at all times. I'm not going to let either of you run away, so don't get any fancy ideas. You run, I'm going to shoot the one left behind, and then I'm shooting the other in the legs. Now walk!"

Shinichi's heart sunk, but he calmed himself. He'd think of something-he'd read lots of books, he'd just try and think like the protagonists. He'd cooperate for now, but the first chance he had, he and Ran were running.

The two children quickly spotted 3B and walked towards it. It was a short distance, and Shinichi wondered why they were going here. Was this where the man lived? Were they going to be sold into some sort of child slavery ring?

No, when they reached the door, passing through the almost empty lot the man tilted forward, leaning over them, and knocked. Shinichi could hear rustling inside, and approaching steps. Did this mean the man had a partner? Were they going to be left here for awhile with him or her?

The girl who opened the door was not exactly what Shinichi was expecting. She was a couple inches shorter then the man, very thin and pale with blond hair and blue eyes. She wore jeans, a green t-shirt, and her hair was back in a pony tail. This couldn't be his partner, could she?

"Hello, how may I," and then she noticed what was happening, "what?!" she gasped, and Shinichi, dreading what he would see but drawn to look anyways, saw the man holding his gun right at Ran's head. He opened his mouth to scream, shout, push her away, anything, but the man spoke first.

"Hello, Jennifer. If you don't want to be responsible for the death of this innocent child, you're going to put your shoes on and come with me now," the man said, his smile a predatory slash across his face.

"What did the girl ever do to you?! Why me?! What's going on?" Jennifer asked, her hands twitching as she looked up at their captor.

The man's grin broadened. "One more sound of protest, and I'll be down a hostage. Lucky I brought two, huh?"

The girl's mouth dropped, and she slid her house shoes off and slid normal shoes on as fast as she apparently could. "Where do you want me to go?" she asked, her voice trembling only a little.

"See that blue car? That's where we're headed. Now move!" he commanded.

Jennifer jumped slightly, and then started to run. "Idiot! Stop! Act normal, or you're going to get everyone killed," the man groused.

She slid to a stop, and then started to walk, only looking slightly stiff. They quickly reached the car again, and the man ordered the children in, and then got in besides them, pointing the gun at Ran the entire time. Jennifer was next, getting into the driver's seat at the man's command, though Shinichi's eyes kept wandering away from Jennifer and back to the gun, unable to keep his eyes away. So small, it was, and so deadly. The man knew how to use it too; the hand stayed steady, and always continued to point towards Ran.

"Okay, now what?" Jennifer asked, her voice a forced calm.

"Now we're going to go for a little ride. You're going to take us to the nearest hotel, and I'll explain to everyone how this is going to work," the man sounded confident. Shinichi decided to distract himself by figuring things out. That's what the good guys always did, right? If he wanted to get out of this, and get everyone else out too, he'd have to be calm, collected, just like Sherlock Holmes. What would Sherlock Holmes do? Notice the details, figure out what was going on.

The man said there was a plan. Now there was a plan? Was he selling them all into slavery? No, the man had driven exactly to the woman's apartment, and knew her name, whereas he pretty much told him and Ran that they were just an opportunity. That meant that Jennifer was the target. Why though? Why kidnap random children off the street in order to gain her cooperation? Most people found that having a gun trained to their head adequate motivation, and yet this man kidnaps two kids as hostages, when all he was doing was spreading himself wide, having to control three people instead of one, which didn't make any sense.

Why do people take hostages in the first place? To force cooperation from someone else, when there are too many people to a gun trained on everyone. Also, to ensure cooperation when the victim is not in range of the perpetrator. That made more sense. The man must want Jennifer to do something, but didn't want to be there himself.

Most of the time, in those sorts of situations, the criminal would normally kidnap loved ones, not random people off the street. Maybe Jennifer didn't have anyone she was really close too. And as for random people off the street, Shinichi had to admit taking kids made more sense. Most people had an aversion to being responsible for the death of a kid as compared to risking the life of a fellow adult. And two hostages meant that the criminal had a spare. Shinichi didn't like that thought, not a bit.

Okay, so he knew why Ran and him had been kidnapped, but why Jennifer in the first place? Was Jennifer really good at something, or knew something he wanted to know? Or was he mad at her? Maybe the later, he seemed really happy in a bad way back at her apartment.

Jennifer had to be at least a half-way decent person though, since she was letting herself be taken off by a mad man so that a girl she never met before wouldn't be killed, so what did she do in the first place to hack him off? She didn't recognize him either, which made it even weirder. Maybe it was something she could do then.

Shinichi was surprised to feel them stop. He looked up-apparently they were at a hotel. "I'm going to stay here with the kids," the man said, and Shinichi felt his eyes being dragged back to the figure besides him. It was terrifying, being right next to him, "You are going to take the money in the glove compartment, and go check out a two bed room. You will get the keys, and bring them back here. If questioned, I'm your husband staying with the kids in the car while you get keys for a room. Don't get any ideas, though. I want you to take that phone that's on top of the money, and I'm going to dial mine. We'll have a connection open, and the moment I hear you say something off color; I'm going to shoot at least one of these kids. Did you get it, or do I need to repeat it so that you understand and don't screw up."

"I got it," Jennifer bit out, and grabbed the phone as the man got a phone out and dialed the number. The phone Jennifer held started to ring, and she hit the button.

"And don't think about muffling the sounds either. If it's quiet, I'm going to shoot a kid," the man said.

Jennifer scowled. "Okay." She stomped off, and Shinichi stared as the man listened, Ran staring as hard as him. A bit later and Jennifer was back. "All right, we have a room. 154. It's on the other side."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Drive us there!" the man ordered.

About 26 minutes later, some hauling of baggage and everyone was settled into the room. The man sat on one bed, the other three on the opposite one. "All right. This is what's going to happen. You know how you just got the keys? You're going to be doing that a lot more often, but not with a room most of the time. You're going to be robbing a few establishments. You'll be disguised of course, don't worry. And you better not screw it up, because the kids will get it if you do."

"You're crazy!" Jennifer yelled, "Why do you have to drag these poor kids into this? Why do you have to drag me into this? You seem more then capable of robbing a bank yourself!"

"It really doesn't matter why I'm doing this," the man said, an odd smile on his face, "What matters is that I have the gun, I have the control, and so you're going to do what I say. I also must add that if you keep protesting, I'm going to get annoyed. When I get annoyed, these children are going to suffer. I'm sure you don't want to watch that, do you?"

Jennifer scowled, but didn't say anything. This relieved Shinichi slightly-he wanted things to remain calm.

At least his deductions were right. If he was in another situation, he might have smiled. It was really cool, to be right. It gave him some power, to be able to figure out what the bad guy was doing. He was interested in finding out why Jennifer had been targeted. Maybe he could ask her, when he got the chance.

Whenever that was.

"So I'm just supposed to walk in there and demand money?" Jennifer asked, her arms crossed in front of her and her eyes looking away from the man. Shinichi saw a weird scar along her arm. He didn't know what might have caused it, but he filed it away for future reference. At least he knew now, however, that she hadn't been taken for having experience at this sort of thing. This was a relief, as well as another clue.

"Yes. As you've noticed, people tend to cooperate when lives are on the line," the man said. He seemed to think himself amusing.

"Okay, so I somehow walk into whatever place you're planning on robbing, get the money; have no one take me down. By some miracle I pull all that off. How am I supposed to get away? Isn't that when most crooks are caught?" Jennifer asked.

"True enough. Lucky for me, however, that won't be happening. This is what you're going to do," the man said.

As Shinichi listened, he had to admit, it was pretty brilliant. The guy wasn't going after hauls of millions and millions of yen at a time. He was going for cash, in relatively small amounts. Only places that would have between 112,000 and 560,000 yen ($1,000 to $5,000) at closing, businesses that were more likely to receive cash as compared to larger places where larger purchases generally meant the customers were paying with credit or debit cards. So he wanted Jennifer to go in at closing, disguised as a normal looking Japanese woman with a black wig and brown contacts (he was making Jennifer cut off her hair so that she'd be able to pin a wig on quickly and almost as quickly take it off) and demand all of the money from the drawers and the small safe where stores generally kept the rest of their money. After they gave her the money, she would duct tape the employees and lock the door after her so that the alarm wouldn't be raised for a long time, likely not until the next morning when whoever opened showed up. She'd go on to the next few stores until she had finished for the night. She would then leave and find a dark spot, stuffing the money in a pre-addressed envelope and dropping it in the nearest mailbox. She would also throw away her wig and temporary contacts, that way, if anyone sees her, she would be dismissed quickly as a foreigner.

He even had a schedule. For the next two months, about four days a week he wanted Jennifer to hit certain stores. He didn't show them which, but Shinichi suspected that he'd done a lot of footwork between the different cities, discovering when which stores would generally have the most money, and when they close, so on.

That wasn't reassuring. The more work he's done to plan all this, the harder it would be to get the jump. The biggest thing they had on their side they had at the moment was that there was three of them, and only one of him. Eventually, they would have to be able to catch him off guard. However, he hadn't taken into consideration the fact that if he'd planned everything else so well, he had certainly planned this part out.

"Okay, I've explained everything. Now, it's time for sleep. Before hand, however, I want you each to each take a sleeping pill. Here's something to take it with," the man said, getting a pack of water bottles out of a suitcase, "this will make sure everyone has a nice, deep sleep."

Okay, there went any idea of waiting until the man was asleep. Maybe it would wear off, and they'd be able to take advantage then. They all drank, and settled themselves. They were all to sleep in the bed, and Shinichi felt a bit awkward. He hadn't even slept with his parents in years and years, and now he was sleeping with two girls. He didn't have much time to worry about it though, because shortly he felt his eyelids sinking further and further down, and he finally succumbed to sleep.

He woke up slowly from an uncomfortable dream into an even more uncomfortable position. His hands were tied tightly and pulled up so that he couldn't even move them. When he looked over, the other two were tied up similarly. It was late, or rather, early. Still dark and the girls on the other side of the bed were sleeping soundly. The pills probably got everyone deep enough so that he could tie them up without having to worry about putting the gun down. Also enough so that despite the pain, they could sleep for awhile. It wasn't really painful, actually, but it was a very awkward position and not good for circulation. Shinichi sighed, and stared up at the ceiling. He would much rather be asleep right now. He normally slept pretty deeply-maybe he could just let himself drift off.

He tried, tried thinking of nothing, tried counting, tried math, tried everything he had ever heard of and a few others and nothing worked. According to the hotel's digital clock, it was 2:35 AM, and he'd been awake for almost two hours.

Six hours later, Shinichi's eyes were red and he felt very stressed, his mind worn. He had been unable to relax-the few times he'd slipped off were almost as bad, uneasy dreams instead of uneasy imaginings and worries.

Ran stirred first, her eyes blinking slightly. He watched, his heart sinking slightly as he saw her realize where she was, what was happening. Her eyes were watery as she turned her head and looked at him. Shinichi tried to smile, but didn't manage more then a slight upturn of the corner of his mouth. "Morning," he said, unable to bring himself to say good.

Her smile was about as dismal as his. "Morning," she replied quietly, "What do you thinks' going to happen to us?"

Unfortunately, Shinichi hadn't really been able to think of anything hopeful. His father was away, and by the time he got back the trail would have grown cold. "I don't know," he said, his low voice miserable.

"My dad's a cop," Ran replied, "But he was at the park. How could he let me get kidnapped? He was supposed to be watching me. Your babysitter was supposed to be watching you!"

Shinichi closed his eyes. "I don't know. He was distracted, probably."

Ran's lip trembled. "But he's my dad, he's a cop. He's supposed to, was supposed to," she was sounding dangerously like she was about to cry.

It made him want to cry. He was scared. He was smart, and imaginative, and he was coming up with too many different, horribly ending scenarios. "I know," Shinichi agreed.

"Don't worry," Jennifer spoke, and both Shinichi and Ran looked up at her, surprised to find out she was awake. She was smiling, though she looked like it was an effort. "We'll figure something out, and even if we don't, he'll probably let us go when he's done with us."

Shinichi didn't think that likely. He didn't think Ran did either, but it was a nice fiction to believe in. "Yeah," he said softly, "that sounds good."

That night was Jennifer's first foray. Shinichi and Ran had pretty much spent the day watching the man get Jennifer ready for her first job, or rather watched him instruct her while he continued to point a gun at them. It had been weird, yesterday, but now he was almost becoming numb to the idea of having a gun pointed at him. Death was only a finger movement away, but he couldn't force himself to care as much anymore. He was becoming resigned to his situation, and thought that he could tell that the others were doing the same. They still obeyed, of course, but it was with a more resigned, rather then terrified air.

It was tense in the car, listening from the man's cell phone as Jennifer demanded the money. It went pretty smoothly at first-most businesses generally had protocol for this sort of thing. However, there were a few chancy moments when it came time for Jennifer to ordered one to duct tape the other. It was okay when one clerk taped the other, but the clerk couldn't duct tape her own hands, and when Jennifer had to set down her gun the clerk, a female, Shinichi thought, tried to get control. The man tensed, and both Shinichi and Ran watched the gun, knowing their fate if Jennifer failed. Jennifer managed to get back in control, however, and soon had her duct taped as well, and apparently made sure that the duct tape held. The next few stores went as well, though the man never relaxed but instead grew more and more tense, and soon Jennifer was back. She showed him the sealed envelopes, and then stuffed them into the nearby mailbox.

"Happy?" Jennifer asked her tone sarcastic.

"No. You left a note," the man said, "Seven, in fact. One in each store, and three along the way. You're going to go retrieve each one now, and tear them up in front of me. And don't leave anymore; I'll know if you do."

Jennifer's face froze, and she stared at him in shock. "But..." she said, staring, "How?"

The man was angry. "I just know. Now, go and get them quickly, or the punishment is going to be worse."

Jennifer disappeared quickly, and the man turned to them. He looked terrifying, and both Shinichi and Ran shrank back and together. "Never forget," he hissed, "I see everything, I hear everything of importance. You cannot slip by me; you cannot get away with anything. And anything you do that I find out about? I'm going to punish the other."

Shinichi gulped. The man was staring at Ran, and turned his attention to him, and Shinichi knew, without any hard evidence to support it, that he was going to be the one punished.

It didn't take too long for Jennifer to get back. She tore the notes up into little shreds, but the man tossed her a lighter and made her burn the remains as well. The ride back was horrible for Shinichi, wondering if these were his last few minutes. Ran was clinging to him, and that helped a little, but nothing relieved that feeling of doom.

They arrived back at the hotel, and the man tersely ordered them into the room, and then the bathroom. "Please," Jennifer said, "It was my fault, don't do anything to them. It was me."

The man shook his head. "No," he said his voice stern and resolute, "I told you that was not how it worked. Anything you do wrong, they get punished. Remember, this is what happens when you try to fool me."

Shinichi closed his eyes and braced himself. A muffled shot, and then there was pain. Gods, the pain! It hurt! His left hand grasped the top of his right arm. He could hear Ran and Jennifer screaming, and then nothing.

After that, nothing seemed the same. His arm was always aching, and the fact that the man kept tying him up in his sleep didn't help at all. A spirit of hopelessness seemed to engulf them. Shinichi found that he still couldn't sleep normally. The most he ever slept was three hours, and restless ones at that.

They moved around from hotel to hotel, from city to city, masquerading as a family on vacation. Even the faint hope that the police would track them down was abandoned after the first couple of weeks. The only sane times they had were the stolen ones. The man slept deeply, and often slept in, which explained his precautions in tying them up so well. They'd be able to talk from anywhere from fifteen minutes to two hours, talking of early memories, of better times. Sometimes Shinichi or one of the others would start to say, "When we get away from this," and then silence would fall. Sometimes the person continued after that moment, at least being able to give themselves the illusion of hope. Other times, on the bad days, the subject would be changed.

Shinichi felt like he was caught in a timeless warp. The routine seldom varied, and being cut off from the outside world left him keeping time only in his head.

And so it was with surprise that one day the man ordered Jennifer to stop on the side of the road. They were in the middle of the mountains, forested mountains, and a feeling of dread crept over Shinichi. This was out of the routine, and if there was anything they had learned, it was that this man liked his rules, and loved his routine. They were his god and his savior. While the man had a good scheme, he couldn't keep it going forever, and it seemed quite possible that this would be the perfect remote spot to get rid of them.

"Get out," the man ordered, "And keep walking into the woods." They obeyed, Shinichi as always having to carefully maneuver out as Ran helped. Jennifer grabbed Ran's hand and Ran grabbed Shinichi's, everyone keeping a tight grip, watching their footing and feeling the presence of the armed man following them.

They walked for several minutes. Shinichi could feel the tension rise-this entire ordeal was coming to an end. He had the bad feeling that this also meant that he would shortly be dead. It would be a relief, almost, to have it happen. After living with the knowledge that it could happen at any moment, to have it over with, done with, would lift a burden off his back. Besides, it would be so difficult, entering the real world again. The real world where he would have to deal with all the real world repercussions, have to deal with his parents, all of the fawning, all of the sympathy. As much as he missed his parents, he dreaded their reactions, having to face them.

They reached a remote clearing, and the man said, "Stop." They turned around so that they could see him, reluctantly but they'd all rather have him in their sights then not.

"Okay. I'd like to tell a little story. About three and a half years ago, I was in love with a beautiful woman. She was smart, intelligent, a perfect match for me in every way. We'd been dating for almost two years. This date was special though: it was the night I intended to propose. I sat there in the restaurant, wondering and worrying when she didn't arrive. I went home, not knowing if I'd been played a fool or something had gone wrong. The next morning on the news I discover that she'd been in a wreck. Some drunken teenager had decided to be an idiot, and drove drunk. She was dead, and no one had let me know. However, I was consoled by the fact that the girl was in a coma, a member of the living dead. It seemed a fitting fate. I toyed with the idea of breaking in and pulling the plug, but I thought it was more poetic that way," the man said. He was staring at Jennifer, who was ashen.

Shinichi knew what was about to be said, and shivered. He finally knew why Jennifer had been picked, why she'd skipped over certain things when talking. "A little over a year ago, now, that girl woke up, was slapped on the wrist with community service, and was allowed to move on. I was furious. That idiot was alive, and Himiko? Himiko was dead. I couldn't just go and kill her though. They'd look into her history, and suspect me right away. So, I decided I'd make sure everyone knew she was a horrible person, and then she would disappear. Everyone is on the lookout for you, Jennifer. They all know you were the one stealing the money. But they're never going to find you or the money because you'll be dead, but they'll just think you've run away. It's the best solution, really. They're going to blame you for the deaths, and they're going to blame you for the money."

"The deaths?" Jennifer asked her voice remote.

"I went back and killed a few of the clerks. Made it look like they'd struggled. Everyone knows you are a murderer and a thief now," the man looked crazed, but triumphant.

"So that's it? You're going to kill me, and get away with the money? You'll let Shinichi and Ran go?" Jennifer asked.

Shinichi already knew the answer to that, and the man quickly confirmed it. "Nonsense," the man said, "They know too much. I'm going to kill them right after you. Two more deaths on your conscious."

Jennifer straightened. "I was stupid," she said quietly, "I made a wrong decision, and innocent people have suffered for it. But there is one difference between us. There is always only one truth, and in the end, it must always prevail. It is not my fault. Yes, I am responsible for your girlfriend's death, but in gaining your revenge, you have become a far more horrible monster then I ever was, and that and the deeds that have resulted are entirely upon your shoulders."

Shinichi had never, ever heard anything more inspiring. He felt the truth ring out in every word she spoke, and each word touched something deep in his soul. The man, however, seemed to grow more and more furious with every word she uttered.

"You bitch," he said fervently, and raised his gun. Jennifer ducked, pushed Ran and Shinichi away, and then rushed the man.

"Run!" she yelled.

Shinichi and Ran ran. They heard a gunshot, a scream, and ran harder. Tears fell down his cheek, fell down hers, but there was no time. Jennifer had sacrificed herself for them, for them to run away, and Shinichi would do whatever it took to do so. He could hear the man's heavy footsteps, and he ran harder, Ran besides him. They ran until they fell to the ground, exhausted and panting; the sounds of cursing and pursuit having died long ago.

"She's dead," Ran said quietly, "I can't believe she's dead."

"I know," Shinichi replied, his heart heavy. Jennifer, being the adult, had become their protector. They had relied on her, and now she was gone. They were the only two left. And Shinichi had to make sure that they survived.

Shinichi slowly stood back up. His arm was throbbing, his legs sore from lack of exercise, and he didn't have a choice but to keep moving. "We have to keep going," he said, "we've left a trail that any fool could follow, in order to get away. Now we have to go slowly, so that he can't follow us."

Ran didn't protest, but simply stood up and followed them. They picked their way carefully now, confusing the trail as much as two children could. At one point, Shinichi bumped his arm and had to stop so that he could refocus on blocking the pain.

"I'm sorry," Ran said, her tear-streaked face falling.

"It's not your fault," Shinichi said.

"Yes it is. I gave Jennifer the idea about the notes, and she did it, and you got punished," Ran said quietly.

"It's that crazy man's fault. Everything's his fault," Shinichi muttered.

The subject was dropped, but Shinichi had the feeling that he hadn't completely convinced Ran. He couldn't worry about it now, though, because he had to keep going, keep moving. Ignore the pain, force one foot to move, then the other, and then all over again.

They finally had to stop. They were cold-fall had come while they'd been dragged over Japan, and they snuggled up together to be kept warm. Any awkwardness Shinichi had felt at the beginning had left long ago; in fact it seemed only natural to have Ran there, to have someone else there to reassure him that he was not alone.

The next morning they got back up and kept walking. They were lost now, and their only guideline was the sun, whose path they followed. In the morning, the sun was always behind them, in the afternoon, in front. They had no guide other then that, no other goal then to hope that they stumbled across someone before they died. The only water they came across wasn't fit to drink being mineral heavy, and neither Shinichi nor Ran knew which plants were safe.

They didn't find anyone the second day either. The third day their path was less then straight, and finally they stopped. Shinichi was overcome with dizziness, hunger, and thirst, and Ran as well. They sat there, staring off into the distance. Shinichi felt his eyelids slowly slid closed.

A couple hours later, a pair of hikers came across the two. They recognized them immediately from the news reports, and called the emergency numbers. They administered aid as directed to by the doctors on the other end. They didn't wake up as the hikers took them to the nearest clearing they could find as directed, and they didn't wake up as the helicopters took them back to civilization, and the real world.

End

This will be a series of one shots leading up to the beginning of the series. I am attempting to keep everything as canon as possible. I've always wondered why and how Shinichi and Ran meet, and became such good friends when they seemed so different. This is what happened. This series has actually helped me get to know some of the characters of Case Closed better. Things that are left out of the series, explanations, are going to be included here. I hope you have and will enjoy this as much as I have.

Also, I've only read as much as the current volume of manga that has been published in America. If something is contrary to what happens after that point, then it's completely unintentional.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not currently, nor will I ever own Case Closed.

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Second Truth_

Ran woke up, her eyes automatically searching for Shinichi. Instead they found a white room, and her parent's faces. "Mom," she said, her voice disbelieving, "Dad?"

Her mom, upon realizing that she was awake, brightened, and suddenly she was caught in a fierce hug. "Oh, my little Ran. You're all right! Don't you ever, ever do anything like that ever again!"

Ran blinked, slightly shocked. "What did I do, mom?"

Her mom pulled away, her eyes looking a bit fierce. "Don't you ever run away from your father again! It's dangerous!"

Ran, staring at her mother, didn't notice her father's suddenly guilty face. "But I didn't run away, mom! I never moved away from the main area until that man made me and Shinichi walk away."

"What do you mean?" her mother asked.

"Shinichi was sitting on a bench by himself, only I didn't know he was Shinichi yet, and I walked over there and we started talking. I sat by him, and then there was the man. He had a gun, and I couldn't see dad, and Shinichi's babysitter wasn't paying attention," her mom's lips tightened as she listened to the story, and her father, after prompting from his wife, took notes. Later, Ran had to repeat the whole story to an officer, who asked her questions and frowned whenever she hesitated, or didn't remember something. They wouldn't tell her where Shinichi was either, just that he was asleep and doing well. She wanted to see him though.

She had just about decided to sneak out and see if she could find him when she heard her parents approaching. It wasn't a difficult task-her mother's yelling was likely audible to the entire building.

"You are such a child, Kogoro! I can't believe you let our daughter be kidnapped right from under your eyes! How can you claim to be a detective when you let such a thing happen?!" her mother was shouting.

"Lay off, will you? It was just a mistake, and she's back now! She's fine!" her father yelled back. Ran felt her eyes burning. Her father seemed to act like the whole thing was just a small thing! It was horrible! People had been killed, Jennifer had been killed, and Shinichi had been shot!

"You've got to be kidding me! How can you just dismiss something like Ran being kidnapped like she's been on vacation for a couple of months?!" her mother shouted back.

"I'm not going to listen to this," her father replied, and stomped off.

Ran felt a tear run down her cheek, and she pulled the blanket over her and pretended to be asleep.

"Stupid idiot," she heard her mother mutter angrily as she entered the room. Ran had to fight to hold back more tears. She'd thought if she made it back to her parents everything would be all right. Now her reappearance just seemed to make everything worse.

When Shinichi woke up it was the middle of the night. He looked around. He was in a hospital room. There were a few lights that blinked on a nearby machine, and his arm wasn't hurting that much anymore. He moved the hospital gown, and stared at what he could see. Neither Jennifer nor the man had known how to properly bandage the wound, and so before it had been a mass of padding, gauze, and tape. Now there was just a neat little cover and a little gauze for security. He noticed his parents in the chairs by the windows, asleep. He was back.

Where was Ran, though? He looked at his parents—he really didn't want to have to talk to them right now. What would he say? How could he explain that he hadn't been able to think of a way to escape, hadn't been able to think of a way to save Jennifer? How could he explain everything?

He wanted something safe, familiar. He slowly, and as quietly as possible moved the covers back and slipped out. It shouldn't be too hard to find Ran.

Shinichi couldn't make it to the door before his father's voice spoke. "Shinichi, son, you're awake. Where are you going? Are you in a hurry to leave again?"

Shinichi froze, then forced himself to relax. "I was just going to look for the bathroom," he said, not wanting to admit he was going to look for Ran.

His father sighed. "Come here," he ordered. Shinichi forced himself to turn around and slowly walk towards his father. He couldn't bring himself to look into his eyes though, see what he was thinking.

Shock was his first reaction when his father suddenly dropped to his knees and pulled him close. "I was so worried about you, and the police were convinced that you'd run away. I tried to explain that you weren't that sort of boy, especially since you had a new book at home, but with no notice, no motive, they dismissed it."

Shinichi, thrown off by this news, pulled back and looked at his father. "We didn't run away! The man came and made us come, but we weren't his targets! Jennifer was, and she's being blamed for everything! It wasn't her fault!"

His father smiled at him, and Shinichi relaxed slightly. "I know. Ran told us. It's a good thing we have you to for witnesses, because no one suspected that Jennifer wasn't acting of her own free will."

Shinichi blinked. "But the police, the detectives! They would have figured it out eventually, right?"

His father sighed, and his face fell. "Maybe. Eventually. Policemen aren't omniscient, though. It's not like a book, where some brilliant detective will figure everything out. It's a sad fact, but it happens. The wrong people are put in jail, the culprit is never found."

"Why?" Shinichi asked.

"Because people don't pay enough attention to the details, or they have the information, but can't put it together correctly," his father replied.

"What about you? You can do all those things! You're a great detective!" Shinichi replied.

His father's mouth quirked slightly. "I'm only one man, and I'm just good at putting patterns together and writing stories. I can't be everywhere, and I don't know everything a true detective would."

Shinichi knew his father didn't have the time to help everyone, but it wasn't right. What about all the kids like him, all the people like Jennifer? They deserved to have someone to fight for them, to discover the one truth just like Jennifer said.

"Why don't you go back to sleep, son? You've had a hard time, you need your rest," his father said, standing up.

Shinichi, unable to really work up a proper argument, trudged back to bed, climbed in, and closed his eyes. He half-way hoped that now that he was safe, he'd be able to sleep again, but it was not to be. He lay awake, turning the issue over in his head. He didn't want to have someone else have to go through what he did. He didn't want someone as nice as Jennifer, even if she did make a mistake, to have to die. He didn't want the bad guy to go unpunished.

His father said that there wasn't enough people, and that people who did didn't know enough, or know the right information. Maybe he could learn that information. He'd still only be one person, but if he knew the right things, then maybe he could help a lot of people, help on the cases that the police couldn't easily solve.

It would be hard. Beyond hard: he would have to spend much of his time learning everything he needed so that he could anticipate whatever the criminal mind thought of, and be able to figure the hard cases out. He could do it though. He wouldn't be the person to be saved, but the person who did the saving. He could find the one truth, just like Jennifer did.

Shinichi swore to himself that night that he would study, he would devote himself to learning everything he needed to know, so that he wouldn't have to standby while Jennifers were killed and the bad guys got away. He would make sure that they were caught, so that no one would ever have to go what he and Ran had to go through. No one.

End Chapter Two

I'm enjoying writing this. As I mentioned before, I feel as if I'm getting to know Shinichi and Ran and some of the other characters in ways I didn't know them before. Hope everyone else is enjoying it as well!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I nor will I ever, own Detective Conan.

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Third Truth_

It was early in the morning when Ran found him. He was asleep, but woke quickly as he heard her shuffling footsteps. "Ran!" he said quietly as he sat up, "Are you okay?"

Ran shrugged and sat down in the chair by his bed. "I'm better. How's your arm?"

Shinichi's eyes momentarily flicked over to his shoulder. "It's been so long since it happened; there wasn't much they could do. It didn't heal quite right, but I should still be able to use it. Aches some though."

"Dad and mom are arguing a lot now," Ran said, "And mom's always acting really carefully around me, dad's trying to pretend it never happened, and the nurses are just as bad as mom. I hate it. And I hate that I appreciate dad's trying to pretend it never happened, because I don't want to be reminded, but I'm furious at him for not paying enough attention at the park, and I hate that he acts like it never happened, because it did! I'm mad at everything, even if it's stupid!"

"My parents are better about hiding it, but they're smothering me too," Shinichi admitted, "And I don't like it. Dad may be a mystery writer, but he doesn't know what it's like, but he acts so sympathetic and understanding and I don't want him too; I want to be mad, and I can't be mad because they're being so nice and I'm mad because they just don't know what it's like, but they act like they do."

"They don't understand," Ran said quietly, "They never will."

"I do. You do," Shinichi stated.

"Yeah," Ran admitted.

Silence filled the room for a moment. Shinichi slowly spoke, as if he was thinking aloud and maybe because he was nervous about her response. "We understand. As long as I know I have someone I can talk to, and you have the same, we can deal with everyone else. Together."

"I'll always be your friend," Ran promised, "Always."

"And I'll always be there for you," Shinichi replied, "No matter what."

The next morning the hospital buzzed. A patient was missing, and they couldn't find her anywhere. Yusaku stood in his son's doorway, a soft smile as he watched the two children sleeping. Sometime in the middle of the night the girl who had been kidnapped along with Shinichi, Ran, had come to visit, and at some point had been invited onto Shinichi's bed. Their hands were clasped as they leaned against the back of the bed, heads touching in the middle. They'd obviously fallen asleep while talking. He closed the door, and went to get breakfast. His son looked peaceful for the first time since he woke up yesterday. He wasn't going to disturb that, not yet.

End

Some of these are going to be pretty short and some will be a bit longer, but I doubt any are going to get as long as the first one. I'll try to make sure they're all good, though. Thanks to everyone whose reading, and thank you everyone who has reviewed so far!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: This is getting old. I acknowledge that I do not own Detective Conan for the rest of the story, _Truth Will Prevail_. There.

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Fourth Truth_

"Mom?" Eri, who was reading through some files from her latest case, looked down at her daughter.

"Yes?" she asked, a bit short. This case was a pain, especially because she was pretty sure her client was guilty. Unfortunately, she still had to come up with a good defense for him.

"I want to enroll in karate classes. Shinichi and I found a really good teacher; his name is Hiroshi Keiji. His classes aren't too expensive, and the dojo's not too far away," Ran said this kind of quickly, looking up at her pleadingly.

The case quickly fled from her mind. She stared down at her daughter. She wanted to say she shouldn't need to learn karate, that she was safe now and never would have to worry again. She wanted to say it with her entire being, wanted her daughter safe. She opened her mouth to say as much then closed it again. "I'll look into it," she promised softly.

Ran brightened slightly and said, "Thank you!" She ran off, probably to go call Shinichi and let him know the good news.

Eri both liked and hated Kudo Shinichi. He was a nice boy, if a bit odd. He was fair, and had good morals. He made Ran happy, and after what had happened to her daughter just a short amount of time ago, that was very important to her. However, every time she looked at the two of them together, and heard him talking about him wanting to be a detective, she wanted to throw him out of the apartment, for being just like Kogoro.

Kogoro and she had been childhood friends. She had always been lonely until she'd meet Kogoro. He introduced himself as she sat under a tree, smiling that goofy grin. She'd thought he was doing it on a dare, or doing it to tease her, and it had taken her awhile to believe he was for real. They had balanced each other out. She had a tendency to get too obsessed, too cut off from other humans. He brought her back into that world of laughter and fun. They got older and eventually married right as they got out of high school. College was hectic for Eri, and Kogoro was busy with his training as a detective and later when he first got his job. The time they spent together was generally off doing something fun, and so everything was okay for awhile.

Then Ran came along. Eri got pregnant just as she was settling into her new job as a lawyer. As much as she loved Ran, Ran's coming was where everything went wrong. Eri had been a bit apprehensive at first, but she'd gotten excited. Kogoro seemed excited too. Soon Ran was born, and everything was okay for awhile. Eri, however, ended up having to be the responsible one more and more. To her dismay, she began to find out that Kogoro had never really grown up. He was a teenager pretending to be an adult. He had a fun job, and a beautiful wife and daughter. It was a game to him. She loved him for his ability to make her laugh, but she needed to be able to rely on him as her husband, as Ran's father. She tried to talk about it with him, but he always brushed her off. She tried letting it go, but she couldn't be the only responsible person in the household. She started pushing harder, and he refused to listen to her! His response was to spend more time away, playing Mahjong with his friends, or going out and getting drunk or both.

Gods she hated him. She hated him for leaving her alone to shoulder the burden of parenthood. She hated him for not paying attention at the park and letting their daughter get kidnapped right under his nose. She hated him for acting like everything was a game. She hated him for being so self serving. She hated him for not being there for her, his wife, and for their daughter. She hated him for making her resent Ran and the responsibility she had brought to their marriage. She hated him for the fact that no matter how much she hated him, he could still make her laugh. She hated him for making her love him.

And she hated Shinichi, because someday he would probably marry Ran. She hated him even more, because their marriage would last where hers was failing, because as much as she hated Shinichi for his similarities to Kogoro, she hated even more the fact that even as young as he was, she could already tell that he was more responsible then Kogoro would probably ever be.

And most of all, she hated herself, because she felt herself giving up on her marriage. She hated herself for not being the wife, the mother, the woman she should be.

End

I thought I'd try getting into Eri's head. It was an interesting experience. Hope everyone enjoyed it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Fifth Truth_

Ran and Shinichi looked at each other at the same time. They were standing in front of their new school, about to start school for the first time since everything. Once they'd settled back in, they'd been given the option of studying with a tutor, and then taking the end of semester tests to make up for the semester they'd missed a big chunk of. They'd passed, and would now be entering into the second semester of school. They'd managed to convince their parents (it hadn't been too difficult) to let them go to school together. Neither of them had attended this school before, so hopefully no one would ask any questions.

Shinichi sighed. "I guess we'd better head in," he said unenthusiastically.

"Yeah," Ran replied, sounding as enthusiastic as him.

They marched in, went to the office, and someone brought them to their new classroom. "Okay everyone," their new teacher, Fujitaka-san said, "This here is Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran. Don't bother them."

Shinichi snorted, though quietly. If that wasn't the quickest was to get everyone to bother them. "Kudo, you sit there, and Mouri, there. Now, we were covering…" the day went by relatively slowly. Shinichi scowled so fiercely at anyone who started bothering them with questions that they soon were left alone. At least until lunch time.

Shinichi and Ran had just sat down when a bright, rather cheerful girl sat down next to Shinichi and across from Ran. "Hi! My name's Sonoko!"

Shinichi and Ran stared at her. Ran said slowly, "My name's Ran, but I guess you know that already."

"Yeah. Anyways, I was wondering, what was Jennifer like?" Sonoko asked.

Unfortunately, Jennifer's story, and therefore, theirs, had been well publicized. All of the kids had started off by asking, "Are you THAT Shinichi and Ran? What was it like?" and those sorts of questions.

Sonoko, however, was the first person to ask about Jennifer, not about their experiences. Having been very fond of Jennifer, this question was probably the only question someone could ask about the kidnapping that they would be willing, even a bit eager to answer. Ran started talking first, and Shinichi filled in. Despite certain things they would never be able to share with her, and certain fundamental differences, Sonoko's carefree manner, friendliness, and determination made certain that from that day on, Sonoko was their friend.

End

Despite certain annoying characteristics, Sonoko is a good person. I thought she deserved a mention, even if it's short, in this series. I definitely can see her sitting down and asking a tactless question like that, but I also see her as genuinely interested. Sorry it's so short, but on the other hand, I don't think it needed to be any longer.


	6. Chapter 6

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Sixth Truth_

"Hi!" Shinichi said. He'd invited Ran over, telling her he had a surprise. He refused to tell her what it was, and Ran was more then a bit excited.

"So, what's the surprise?" Ran asked in an overly casual manner as she stepped in and changed her shoes.

"Mom's agreed to play Dress Up!" Shinichi said his smile brighter then ever.

Ran's face slackened. "What?" she asked, disbelievingly.

"Dress Up. You know, when you dress up like different people!" Shinichi explained, "Haven't you played Dress Up before?"

"But that's a little kid's game!" Ran protested.

"On the contrary!" Yukiko said brightly, appearing from nowhere. "I still play regularly! I think you're a bit confused, though. You'll just have to see, okay?"

"Okay," Ran replied, slightly dubious.

"Great! Shinichi, you know the way!" Yukiko said brightly with a bow. Shinichi led them to a back room. Ran couldn't believe it when she saw it. It was like a gigantic closet, with clothes ranging from clothing a beggar would be ashamed to wear to clothing fit for royalty. American clothing, traditional Japanese clothing, clothing from around the world! And there was some in little kid sizes too! And as many different sets of clothing there were, there seemed to be as many wigs and probably twice as many shoes. There was a large make up counter, and a section of the room which had an almost complete 360 degree mirror.

"Wow," Ran muttered softly. And it didn't end there. By the end of the day Ran had been dressed up to be everything from a blond to having the deepest shade of black hair imaginable. Shinichi had dressed up too-at one point, Shinichi had been dressed up like Ran, Ran like him, and Yukiko like Ran's dad. Once Ran had learned some of the rudimentary skills of changing wigs and makeup, along with costume selection, the game began. Each person selected their disguise, and dressed up, not letting anyone else see the disguise. Once they came out, they had to act either exactly like the person they'd dressed up as, or according to a made up personality to go along with the clothes. Whoever was watching at the time had to ask questions. The person who was dressed up had to answer them, in character of course. If the person stayed in character for eight minutes without messing up, they won. If one of the audience members asked the question that made the questioned person mess up, then they won. Whoever won got to pick the next person to go, whether it was themselves, or someone else. Yukiko had won the most times, followed by Shinichi. Ran had won a few times herself, once she started to get the hang of it. At one point Yusaku had been dragged in, and he'd won a few times, but he'd finally had to leave and go back to his writing.

Ran couldn't remember having more fun in her life. Beyond the fact that it was funny to see Shinichi dressed up like a girl, it was plain fun dressing up as someone else, not having to be Ran for once. It was fun trying to beat the others, and fun watching them mess up. She hadn't wanted to stop, but they'd eventually had to, for dinner. Ran had reluctantly gone home to her tense household afterwards, where the only way to ignore the tension was to be busy doing something like reading or watching TV. When she was there, she felt like she had to be the perfect daughter, to cause as little trouble as possible. She hoped that by being the perfect daughter, maybe her parents would stop being so angry at each other. It didn't always work, but she'd often been able to make one or the other smile, forestalling an argument. It seemed like Shinichi, and sometimes his parents, were the only people she could be herself around.

But keeping her parents together was worth it. Not drawing attention was worth it. If being normal and being perfect was what she had to do, then do it she would.

End

Whoops. I meant this to be a nice, fluffy little break from some of the drama around here, and look what I go and do. Sheesh. I was doing so well too…oh well.

Oh, where the Dress Up game came from. I figure that Yukiko would wish to pass down her skills as an actress as much as Yusaku would and did wish to pass down his skills as a writer/detective. In addition to that, Sherlock Holmes, Shinichi's role model for detective work, was famous for his disguises which often helped him find crucial clues. Despite many of Shinichi's cases not requiring disguises, I figure there were likely at least some in which not being Kudo Shinichi, famous teen detective, would be a great benefit. So, the Dress Up game was born. I figured it would be a great way for Yukiko to teach Shinichi, and later Ran, to be good at changing their looks and staying in character, without it seeming like boring lessons, even if the lesson material wasn't boring. Hope that makes sense.

And yes, I'm writing and posting as I go. For some reason, I'm in a prolific writing mood today, and I don't feel like waiting to post. I guess ya'll aren't going to argue, though I am slightly disappointed because that means I'll won't get as many reviews as I would if I waited. Oh well. Knew that when I started posting.


	7. Chapter 7

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Seventh Truth_

Ran sat in her bed. The door had banged open just a few minutes ago, at 12:15 am. Her dad was home, and drunk. Her mother, as always, had been tight lipped most of the night, glancing up at the clock frequently. Ran had been sent to bed at nine, but she'd been unable to fall asleep for long. Every time she woke up, the light from the living room was still on, and Ran knew that her mother was waiting for her father's return.

When it happened, the inevitable fight had begun.

"Well, you've finally decided to grant me with your drunken presence. I am honored," her mother said, her voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Shut up, woman! I'm not drunk!" her father replied.

"I might not be an almighty detective, but even a blind person could tell you were drunk. I can smell you from here," her mother bit out.

"What's wrong with me going out and having a few drinks? I am entitled to it!" her father declared, "You're not my boss!"

"I might not be your boss, but I am your wife! And from what I hear, if you keep showing up drunk, you might not have a boss anymore!" her mother yelled.

"Nonsense! I keep telling you, I'm not fucking drunk!" her father yelled back, "Maybe if I didn't have to come back to this, I wouldn't need a few drinks just to deal with you!"

"Oh, so it's my fault you don't have the decency to act like a man?!" her mother yelled, her outrage obvious, "It's my fault you're going to loose your job, it's my fault you contribute nothing to the upkeep of this apartment, it's my fault you are a failure as a husband and a father, and it's my fault our daughter was kidnapped right under your nose?! Unbelievable!"

"Oh, you're harping on that again! It could have happened to anyone! I've apologized, what more do you want woman?" her father replied.

"I want you to acknowledge you're wrong and change!" her mother said firmly.

"But I'm not wrong! And I don't need to change. It's your fault for being a damn harpy!" her father accused.

"I give up," her mother said, "You're going to sleep on the couch, and tomorrow morning I'm getting a hotel room and taking Ran with me. I'm not moving back until you act your age."

"You? Leaving me? Forget that, I'm leaving you! I'm outta here!" her father said, and stormed out.

Ran's mouth trembled. Despite all of her efforts, her parents were breaking up. She knew it was her fault, even though Shinichi said otherwise. If her parents didn't have to take care of her, her mother wouldn't be pressuring her father to be responsible, and they would still be happily married. But she'd tried so hard to be good, to lessen her parents' worries.

Ran sat there, trying to be quiet, trying not to cry. She didn't want to see her mom right now.

After a little, when she thought it was safe, she sat up. She needed Shinichi. Shinichi would know what to say.

She focused on that, rather then the discussion she'd just heard. She crept out of the room-her mom didn't stir. It was so quiet, so dark, and while Ran might normally have been nervous, she ignored it in favor of concentrating on her goal. She slipped her shoes on and opened the door and closed it again. She put her ear to the door. She couldn't hear anything. She went to the elevator, went down to the first floor, and exited the building. It was only a ten minute walk to Shinichi's, but it seemed to take forever along the cold, lonesome road. She didn't see a single person, and she was jumping at every noise. Luckily, nothing happened, and she made it safely to Shinichi's house.

For her birthday a year ago, Shinichi's parents had given her a key and a room at their house. She had a standing invitation as a part of the family. She took the key and fumbled slightly, her hands cold, but she managed to quietly open the door and close it again. She listened, and there were still no sounds. She crept up the stairs. It was so dark in this part of the house, without windows. She had to run her hand along the right wall, counting the door ways as she passed. One…two…three…and here was his room. She opened the door. Shinichi, as always being a light sleeper, bolted up and turned on his light. Seeing it was Ran and not some stranger, he relaxed. "Oh. It's just you. Ran, what are you doing here?"

Ran just stared at him. She couldn't think of anything to say. She was here, she was with Shinichi. She was safe, but everything was still so wrong.

"Ran? Ran, are you okay?" Shinichi stood up, and walked towards her. "Ran, you're crying! What happened?!"

Ran hadn't noticed she was crying. She wasn't sure when she had started. "I'll go get mom and dad," Shinichi said, and made to move past her. She grabbed onto him.

"No! Don't!" she said quietly, fiercely. "Just…don't."

"What's the matter then?" Shinichi asked. He inhaled, and frowned. "It's your parents? Your dad came home drunk again, didn't he?"

Ran nodded, fighting the tears, and failed.

"And they fought? They didn't…they did. They're finally breaking up, aren't they?" Shinichi stated.

Ran nodded again, her tears speeding up. Shinichi scowled. She could tell he wanted to say something, and was glad he didn't. She didn't want to hear his opinions about her parents. She wanted him to tell her everything would be okay.

"Come on," Shinichi said, after taking a moment to calm down. They got in his bed, and Shinichi settled her against his shoulder and put his arm around her.

"You're going to manage this. At least you won't have to deal with all the fights," Shinichi offered.

"No, but they're both going to be in bad moods all the time. Mom gets obsessed with work, and dad just drinks and drinks. They love each other, but they just won't compromise!" Ran said, "And it's my fault! The arguments are always about how dad oughta be a more responsible father! If I had never been born…"

Shinichi let her go and glared at her. "Don't say stupid stuff like that! It's not your fault your dad's stuck in permanent puberty. If he's going to mess around with your mom and ends up with a kid, then he has to take responsibility for it! For you!"

Ran's lips quirked up slightly. "Thanks," she said. Shinichi was always there for her, even when she was the one in the wrong.

Shinichi sighed, and sat back against the bed, his arm slipping back around her. "Let's not think about it. Let's just get some sleep."

"You? Sleep? Hah!" Ran said.

"I sleep!" Shinichi protested.

"How long ago did you fall asleep?" Ran questioned.

Shinichi looked over at the clock and flinched. "Probably about twelve minutes before you got here…" he muttered.

"Bat," she said, closing her eyes.

"Kangaroo," Shinichi replied.

The next morning, Ran crept down the stairs behind Shinichi, afraid that she'd be in trouble. She paused in the hallway, hearing Yukiko on the phone with apparently her mother. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea," she said, "I don't want to get you in trouble."

Shinichi shook his head. "If you had a pleasant environment at home, maybe you'd stay there. Come on," he ordered, grabbing her hand and dragging her into the kitchen.

"Oh! She's right here! Yes, yes I know. I'll send her over as soon as I can. I know. All right. See you in a few minutes. Goodbye," Yukiko said, and hung up.

"Ran, you're in…" she started, but was interrupted by her son.

"If her parents weren't always fighting, and if they hadn't decided to break up, maybe she'd be willing to stay home instead of having to walk blocks just to have some peace," Shinichi said defiantly, glaring up at his mother.

"Shinichi," Ran said, embarrassed, but unable to suppress a small smile.

Yukiko grimaced. "Don't you interrupt me, young man! I'm sorry about your parents, Ran. It wasn't a safe thing to do. You better not do that again until you're big enough to protect yourself or you really will be in trouble. And Shinichi, don't give me that look. It was dangerous for her to come over."

Shinichi shrugged, and they went to the table to sit. He could tell that Ran wasn't going to get into much trouble, because it WAS her parents fault, really, and his mother didn't try to argue that point. They'd won the argument. Together, they'd always win.

End Chapter 7

I would like to thank vampslyr and Shinigami for their reviews. They were the only ones to review the chapters 3-6, which I had been so kind as to post in one day. TK posted a review as well, but she's my best friend-I normally just drag her thoughts out about whatever my newest chapter is whenever we talk. I wrote chapter seven at the same time I did chapters 3-6, but promised myself I wouldn't update seven until someone reviewed. I was rather shocked that it took as long as it did for anyone to do so. I'm not holding out for outrageous amounts of reviews, I just would like to have at least one or two comments.

Anyways, enough of that. I would like to request that if you leave a review with questions in it, please leave an email address for me to reply to. I'm generally pretty good about getting back to the reviewer and answering questions, and it's frustrating not being able to reply, since I'm not allowed to reply to reviews in the AN's.

Nickname explanations: Bat, rather obviously, because after the whole kidnapping/drugging thing, Shinichi has a hard time making himself fall asleep and so Ran likes to call him Bat, since he's nocturnal. Kangaroo, because I wanted another animal name, and kangaroos are rather infamous as kickers and punchers, from what I know. Seemed to fit Ran.

Ran climbing into bed with Shinichi: they're still young, and haven't really thought about the implications quite yet. Besides, they got used to sleeping in the same bed during the kidnapping. Right now Ran just wanted to be somewhere safe, and to her, just about the safest place is with Shinichi, especially when her parents are fighting.

Any other questions, please ask, I will respond. Probably tell you more then you wanted to know about the story and my thoughts behind it.

Thank you, and have a great day!


	8. Chapter 8

I'm not sure I've mentioned this, but Ran's parents separated around when she and Shinichi were nine, and she and him are now a little past thirteen.

Also, I conceived this before I read the bit about Shinichi's first case. I considered using it, but I wanted to go with this instead. Hope no one minds...

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Eighth Truth_

Ran threw away the last of the beer cans, a smile breaking across her face. She was finally done cleaning the apartment, Shinichi was coming, and her father was out for once, working on a job.

She'd originally moved in with her mother. It had been a quiet life. Her mother never was much for casual conversation, and normally spent all of her time researching whatever her latest case. Luckily, her mother hadn't moved so far away that she had to go to a different school, and though it was a longer walk, she could still visit Shinichi regularly. It wasn't perfect, but it was all right.

Every time she went to visit her father, however, she could tell everything was getting worse. He'd had to quit the force, and started a private detective firm. He hardly got any business, and was normally lucky to pay the rent. It wasn't that her father was that bad of a detective, but no one really wants to hire a detective that looks like a slob, and lives like a pig.

She'd told her mother a little, though not everything about how bad it was, hoping that it would make her mom feel sorry and worried, but she only tightened her lips, and said that if he didn't shape up, Ran wouldn't be going there anymore. Ran had sighed, and she'd reported the next time that her father was doing better, even though it was getting worse.

She finally decided that she needed to move in with her father-he was headed for disaster if something wasn't done soon. Her mother had argued at first, but she mentioned how bored she was, and her mother just went still for a moment, and then said she wanted to make sure the apartment looked good first. Ran had anticipated that, and had cleaned the apartment really well, taking Shinichi with her to help when she was supposed to be just visiting Shinichi. She felt bad about saying she was bored at her mother's, even if she knew it was the truth. It was the one thing her mother had ever apologized for-the fact that she couldn't spend much time with Ran. 

As much as she knew her mother needed her for emotional comfort, her father was going to be living on the streets soon. She could visit her mom to cheer her up, but visits were not enough to keep her father in an apartment. Shinichi, who was in on her plans, had tried repeatedly to convince her that maybe this was what her father needed, something to wake him up and realize he needed to take charge, and that Ran shouldn't have to be responsible, but Ran refused to let her father be thrown out of the apartment. Ran was soon moved in with her father, and had started making some changes. She'd changed the name of her father's detective agency (The Great Private Detective Kogoro) partially because she wanted to disassociate the agency from the previous flop, and partially because the name was frankly ridiculous. She then spent her allowance on some advertising, and this, combined with a clean place for her father to meet with clients, was enough to at least get her father out making some money.

Luckily, her mother never found out all the effort she'd had to go to to get her father on his feet after the divorce, and she had hoped that her father doing well would be enough to bring her mother back, but every chance meeting between the two seemed to blow up. On the plus side, at least she'd impressed Shinichi, who had said that he was letting her be in charge of his PR when he opened his detective agency. She'd agreed, though made him promise that he'd try stay away from the sorts of cases her father got, that way she wouldn't be helping the competition.

Shinichi had replied that he didn't want to follow cheating husbands and wives anyways. Ran made a dent in a nearby wall with her fist. Shinichi had surrendered.

She was waiting for Shinichi now. He'd promised as soon as soccer practice was over he'd be headed her way, but soccer practice had to have ended at least an hour and a half ago, and it didn't take but twelve minutes from school to here. There was the possibility he had stopped to pick something up, but that shouldn't take that long either.

She was debating calling the school and seeing when soccer practice had ended, when Shinichi burst through the door, practically glowing from excitement. "I solved a case!"

Ran smiled at him, before realizing what he said. "A case?" she asked, puzzled, "What do you mean? Did someone loose another watch?"

Shinichi grimaced. His classmates had discovered Shinichi had a knack at finding misplaced items, and he'd ended up becoming the official "Bloodhound" of the school. He thought it was embarrassing, but Ran laughed and said it was good practice for later. He didn't think it helped that much, but it built goodwill, and made Ran happy, so he did it. "No. A REAL case, a police case!" Shinichi explained, bouncing slightly, unable to keep grim at a time like this.

"How on earth did you get involved in a police case?" Ran asked.

"Well, I stopped to get you a…oh, wait! Here!" Shinichi said, and set the rather large bag he'd been carrying done on the table. He pulled down the sides of the bag to reveal a box, a special box.

Ran's eyes widened. "Shinichi! You didn't!"

"Yup!" Shinichi said proudly, "You won the junior karate championship, and I thought you needed a prize!" He opened the box, and revealed a cake, frosted white with pink writing declaring "Champion!" 

Ran grinned and hugged Shinichi. "You're the best friend ever!"

Shinichi blushed slightly. "Thanks," he said, "I ordered it last week."

"But…the championship was this weekend," Ran said.

"So? I knew you were going to win!" Shinichi said, shrugging his shoulders.

A smaller, but a more intense smile graced Ran's face. "Baka," she said, a fond note in her voice as she half-heartedly punched Shinichi's arm, "What were you going to do if I lost?"

"Wasn't going to happen," Shinichi said.

"What do I get if I win the regional championships?" Ran asked, half-joking, half-curious.

"I'll figure something out," Shinichi said, dismissing it with a shrug, "Something big though, and you'll like it, so work hard!"

"Baka," Ran said again, shaking her head, "So what's this about a case?"

"Oh!" Shinichi said, "Right! Well, I was waiting for them to bring the cake up, and a young woman starts coughing, and it turns out she was choking. It wasn't something stuck in her throat, because they used the Heimlich move. It was horrible. Everyone was panicking, especially her boyfriend, who was yelling for an ambulance at the top of his lungs. Well, by the time the ambulance got there, she was dead, and we all had to stay there while the police looked over everything. The boyfriend was having a fit, yelling about allergies and how it was all Keiko's fault for putting peanuts in his girlfriend's dish and how he was going to make sure the girl's family sued. Keiko was crying," Shinichi was scowling slightly, "But I knew it wasn't her fault, because Keiko always gets orders right, and the woman, Misako, had ordered the Caramel Fountain, and you know that has pralines in it. Inspector Megure said it all seemed like a horrible accident, but I knew it couldn't be, because her reaction was so severe, and she had to have known that she was allergic if it was that bad, and would have known to spit out any peanuts as soon as she tasted them. The couple was out of town, visiting the sights, you could tell they were tourists. Unless someone followed them, in order to kill Misako, it had to be the boyfriend. Well, I was looking at the guy's coat pocket, and I saw a weird bulge. It looked suspicious, and it was hanging over the chair, so I opened the pocket and peeked inside. It was a sugar shaker, one of the ones like they have on the tables for coffee! I looked, but there were none missing from the table."

"Well, anyways, I asked Souta if Misako had any weird habits when she was eating. He was crying, and he said, 'She always shook extra sugar over whatever dessert she was having. She loved sugar, and had a high metabolism and said it didn't matter if she put some extra on.' He started crying harder, but I had solved the case. I went over to Inspector Megure, and told him what I thought happened. He decided to check it out, since he knows Dad, and I was right! The boyfriend powdered some peanuts and mixed it with sugar, and when they sat down to eat, switched the two sugar shakers out when she went to get the order. He switched them back in the confusion, and proceeded to blame Keiko. The sugar shaker was still in his coat, and when you looked at it, you could tell the sugar looked funny. The boyfriend didn't even try to deny it when the Inspector asked. Apparently, he was worried that she was falling out of love with him, and he decided that if she had a near death experience, and he saved her, she would stay with him. He didn't know she was so allergic, and was devastated he killed her. Inspector Megure said I did pretty good, and offered to let me tag along on a few cases, to get my toes wet, he said!" Shinichi had illustrated everything with waving hands and a bright, intense expression as Ran watched and listened, wide-eyed.

"I can't believe that happened!" Ran said, "What kind of boy would do something stupid like that, and even if he did, shouldn't he have at least made sure she wouldn't really be at risk?"

Shinichi shrugged, his happy expression fading slightly. "I don't know. I just want to make sure they're stopped, so they don't do it again."

Ran shook herself slightly. "Well, it's great you solved the case, especially when Inspector Megure didn't even know it was one! I can't believe you're already getting started! All that studying has paid off!"

Shinichi grinned. "Yup! If I'm going to be going on cases with the police, though, I'll have to step it up a notch! There's so much more I need to learn! Sherlock Holmes could tell so much just from looking at a person!"

Ran sighed. "I know Shinichi. You've told me that a dozen times. You do know he's fictional, right?"

Shinichi scowled. "I know that. It doesn't mean his techniques were faulty, though. You realize…"

As Shinichi continued talking about this or that technique, and how this proved that this person did that, and so on, Ran felt her heart sink a little. Shinichi was good at this, she knew that. She might call him a bat, but the nickname given by their classmates was far more accurate. Shinichi was a bloodhound, through and through. It wouldn't take long before the police discovered what an asset they had, and Shinichi would be spending even more time learning more techniques and facts to solve cases, and the police would be asking for him more and more. They already had so little time to spend together, between her karate and his soccer and their other, various hobbies. Would they have any time left to spend together?

Shinichi wouldn't let that happen, Ran decided. This is a good thing. Shinichi been wanting to do this for forever. She interrupted his long-winded speech, smiling at him fondly. "Why don't we have a piece of cake, Shinichi? I think we deserve it!"

End

Well, nothing too complicated for young Shinichi, but he is young, and I have a simple mind when it comes to murder cases. I hope it seemed conceivable. I'm trying to set the stage for the next chapter as well. That will probably be the last truth for awhile, right before the shrinking. I might think of something, and decide to add it later, but these are the main ideas I had in my head. Hope everyone enjoyed!


	9. Chapter 9

This takes place during Shinichi's last day as a teenager for quite sometime

This takes place during Shinichi's last day as a teenager for quite sometime. I'm using my manga, so the quotes should be just about straight from the story.

**Truth Will Prevail**

_Ninth Truth_

Kudo Shinichi walked down the sidewalk, a slightly over-blown smile on his face as he read the newspaper article featuring him. Not only did he solve another murder case, but there were some rather cute girls talking about him…he hid his face behind the newspaper as he walked by, a triumphant grin on his face as he lapped up the praise. Man, he was good! And tomorrow, after Ran's reward trip to the amusement park, he had a surprise for her, something that might finally get Ran out of the…

Ow.

Seriously, O-W.

Shinichi rubbed his head regretfully, looking for the culprit and somehow not surprised at the identity. There she was, standing with a frown, weapon in hand. It didn't take a detective to figure out who-dun-it.

"Look at you, acting like such a dork," Ran said, annoyance seeping through every syllable.

"What are you mad about, Ran?" Shinichi asked, hoping that maybe this time she'd answer and tell the truth.

"Oh, nothing…I'm not angry at all that my father can't get any work!" Ran stuck her tongue out.

Okay, they both knew that wasn't the truth. Her father mostly worked the cheating spouse/find the missing item/animal type cases. He, on the other hand, mostly worked with the police, and occasionally with people who really needed help. He'd promised Ran a long time ago he wouldn't take her father's sort of cases, and he'd kept that promise (though he really didn't have any desire to steal that sort of competition anyways.) Ran seemed angry at him all the time lately, and she never told him why. He was her best friend, damn it, and he wanted to know!

His annoyance prompted his not too wise words. "What, your dad's still a detective?! But it's not my fault he's not getting any work, it's because he sucks at it…" He trailed off as she started laughing. It sounded a bit malevolent. She was so sensitive about her dad, someone who Shinichi frankly loathed. He gave a bad name to detectives, and worse, he was a lousy parent making Ran take up the reins more often then not. The limited amount of success he did have was because of Ran's marketing abilities.

He watched in alarm as she smashed a metal lamppost, leaving a dent. "I said I'm not mad about anything at all!" and then she laughed again.

Yeah right. He blinked, not certain if he should be concerned for the post (how the hell did a human hand manage that and not break?! It defied logic!) or Ran's hand. It had to be throbbing right now. He really wanted to check on it, but was afraid she'd deck him too. When had his best friend gotten so violent? It had to be the fault of her father, always having to suppress her emotions when she was around him, and taking them out on someone who was safe to show her real self too. Sometimes he wished he wasn't so safe. After some searching for something (anything!) to say, he finally managed a, "T-That's the captain of the karate team for you…"

"Get the ball for us!" a young voice called.

"Huh?" Shinichi asked as he turned around to see a rogue soccer ball bounce towards him. He grinned, glad of something to break the tension (and to stop that awful, dreadful sounding laughter) and kicked the ball towards the kids with a "Here you go!"

"If you hadn't quit the soccer team, you'd be a national hero by now," Ran said, a hint of distress in her voice.

Shinichi was tempted to say he was (didn't she read the newspaper?) but decided to go for a safer, and still true, response. "I only played soccer to develop the reflexes necessary for a detective to have…you know, Holmes practiced fencing…" Shinichi knew he really ought to stop harping about Holmes, but…he was so cool!

"But that's in a book," Ran looked doubtful.

"But everyone knows who he is! He was amazing! Always cool and composed! Brimming with intelligence and refinement! His reasoning and observation skills were peerless! And, on top of that, he was good enough to be a professional violinist! Conan Doyle created Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest detective!" Shinichi enthused. His mom had sent him to the counselor once, worried he was becoming obsessed. That only lasted one session-the therapist somehow ended up being the one who was asked all the questions. After that, for some reason, the therapist's secretary never could find time for the next appointment.

Like any good bibliophile, now that they were on the subject of books… "I've got all the mystery novels in the world at my house, not just Conan Doyle's!" He knew she knew that, but just thinking about his hoard back home (his mother called both him and his dad bookwrym's) made him want to laugh triumphantly and hysterically, his heart glowing at the thought of all the books.

If only he could get Ran… "How about it? You wanna read one?" She never really agreed to, but he couldn't keep himself from asking. He kept hoping someday the answer would be yes.

"No thanks! I'd rather not catch your detective disease!" Ran sneered.

Shinichi's eyes narrowed. Detective disease, humph! He'd show her. "But look, fan letters! Everyone likes a detective otaku!" Okay, so he didn't really read them all (after all, there was a new article out on forensic studies, and while the letters were complimentary, it got boring reading them. Same mindless junk over and over. It was the thought that counted though.

"Oh really…" Ran said, eye lids shuttering slightly. She grabbed the letters from them and fanned them out in front of her, obviously noting the fact that they were all almost from females. Her face fell slightly. "I don't mind you going ga-ga over these girls…but you really ought to narrow it down to one!"

"Down to one, eh?" Shinichi couldn't keep his eyes from sliding over to watch Ran. He really ought to tell her he'd pretty much stopped reading those letters ages ago, but the fact that she expressed distress over the fact he got them made him think that maybe there was some hope for something other then just friendship.

Ran caught him and glared. "What are you staring at me for?!" she snapped.

"Eh? O-oh, nothing," Shinichi stammered. Why was it that for all of the confidence he'd garnered, all of his successes, he still couldn't manage to confess the fact that he really, REALLY liked Ran to the girl in question? Probably because she mattered more then all of his successes. If you didn't know the person, didn't care for them particularly, it didn't really hurt as much when they said no. The thought of Ran saying no dismayed him more then anything he could think of. If there was only some way to find out…

"One of these times when you stick your head into these cases you're going to end up in real trouble," Ran said dourly.

Shinichi wasn't really paying attention, still locked into his daydreams, and answered, "Maybe." Maybe he should have listened more closely.

"Why do you have to be a detective? If you love those detective stories so much, you should be a writer…" Ran said.

Shinichi stared at her a bit quizzically. She knew why…why was she asking? Well, maybe if he gave her his standard answer, not the one that meant something to him. "I don't want to write about detectives-I want to be one! The new Sherlock Holmes! The more cases, the more excited I get! The thrill of that moment when I foil the schemes of the criminal! The sensation! Once you start, you can't stop! That's what detectives are like!" Okay, maybe he got a little carried away, but hey! Books and catching criminals were way better vices then drugs or something! Safer! He winked at Ran. Then he remembered he still had the pick up her new microscope. He'd gotten a really nice one-had asked Agasa for advice on the best one to get and everything. From the first time he'd meet her Ran had loved nature, and was going into science (though she wasn't quite sure what kind she wanted to be.) She'd been complaining about the school microscopes, and he'd decided that would be the perfect present for her, above and beyond taking her to the amusement park. If he wanted to get it and wrap it before they closed, he had to leave now.

"See ya!" he yelled, and started to run off.

"Hey, wait!" Ran yelled after him.

Shinichi paused, and waited for her to catch up.

"You didn't forget about your promise for tomorrow, did you?" Ran asked.

"Promise?" Shinichi asked, distracted. He still had to buy tickets too, and…

Suddenly his drifting attention was captured by a flurry of kicks as he hurried to dodge, finally leaping on top of a nearby box to avoid her lethal feet. "Weren't you the one who said it?! You said if I won the city tournament, you'd take me to the amusement park!"

Shinichi couldn't suppress the grin on his face. She thought he'd forgotten! She should know better by now! Well, he could have a little fun with this… "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Ran whirled around and started to stomp off. "Oh, never mind!" she practically growled, "I didn't want to go with you anyways! You can go hang out with one of the girls writing you fan letters!"

Crap! Shinichi hurried after her. "I was just joking! C'mon, don't get mad! Of course I remembered! Tropical Land, 10 o'clock!" How could he possibly forget? It was almost like a date with a girl he seriously liked! How could he forget?!

"Don't forget that you're paying for all of this," Ran remarked.

Shinichi felt a shiver go down his back. He'd been planning on it, since she really didn't have much money (her mom sent her some money every month, but Ran generally ended up spending it on bills.) The threat in her voice though-it made it sound as if she was going to buy him out. He'd just spent most of his money on that microscope for her…

"Erk…was I?" was all he could manage as she walked away.

End

Okay, I was planning on finishing it this chapter, but I think I'm going to stop here, and do most of the rest of it from Ran's point of view next time. Except, of course, for when Shinichi gets poisoned. I think I'm doing pretty good integrating canon with my story, but if you see anything you don't think fits, speak up!

After this next chapter, that's pretty much all I have planned. However, since this is a series of pretty much one shots, if **anyone has any requests of scenes they'd like seen done** (as long as you don't mind them being in the Truth Will Prevail universe) I'll be happy to take a look and see what I can manage.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry about the wait on this. Like I've mentioned in my other stories, my computer died. Unfortunately for this particular story, this particular Truth chapter died with it. So I've finally decided to bite the bullet and rewrite it. Hopefully this means it will be better than the last one. We'll never know though, will we?

I'd like to dedicate this last chapter of Truth Will Prevail to all of my great reviewers for this story. Maybe this story doesn't have as many reviews as other stories do, but those who did review almost always gave me a review that was more in-depth, longer. I really appreciate that, and I tried to reply to all of those reviewers. Thank you all and I hope you like this chapter as well.

I will be marking this story as complete after this. I might write a couple more one shot chapters since I did tell reviewers that I'd take requests plus the fact I might think of something, but this is the last chapter in the main story line. After this one shot is where my other story, Choices, begins, though there is a brief skip in time of a few days.

Note: Like the last chapter, this too takes place during the first bit of the Detective Conan manga. This time it will be taking place from Ran's point of view, to give readers a bit of insight into Ran at this point of time, before everything in Choices takes place, since it is right before the action starts. Also, I was planning on continuing this a bit further in the story, but I couldn't. Honestly, I did so, but the further it got, the more I started thinking…Ran isn't this dumb. I mean, seriously, Shinichi really screws up at first, and Ran just ignores it. Plus, I don't think my Shinichi would screw up as much as the canon one did, because his mom trained him in the art of disguise, which, as I've stated before, makes sense that she would, because he is her son. So, the spot I choose was the right place to end it. Sorry if everyone hoped it went longer.

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan.

**Truth Will Prevail**

_The Tenth Truth_

"So you see, one of the amazing things about Holmes is the first time he meet his partner Dr. Watson. He could tell he was a military doctor in Afghanistan just from a handshake...just like this," Shinichi grabbed a woman's hand that was standing behind him on the other side of the railing and shook, much to the woman's surprise.

Ran resisted a sigh. It seemed all Shinichi could talk about these days was either Holmes or his latest mystery he solved, though he never mentioned any of the dangerous stunts that happened. It wasn't that Ran wasn't proud of Shinichi and what he was doing; it was just that she felt left behind, left out. Shinichi never took her on any cases, and that was what most of his time was spent doing when he wasn't in school. He was moving away from her, growing up and becoming an adult with a job before they even graduated, and Ran was stuck still being a teenager.

Before this, they'd been partners, best friends. They shared practically everything. Now she felt like she was weighing him down, a leftover bit of the past. She'd grown to love Shinichi over the years, not only just as a best friend, but someone she'd often dreamed of having a life with. Now she wasn't sure if that was even possible anymore. He was even getting fan mail, for goodness sake, from women who were all probably much prettier and smarter than her. Why would he want someone like her?

"You're on the gymnastics team, right?" Shinichi half stated, half asked. He'd be right. He always was.

Ran could also tell by the look on the woman's face. Shock and discomfort. Shinichi often had that effect of people when he first meets them. People don't like strangers knowing things about them that they've never mentioned. What else would this person be able to figure out about them? What secrets would the stranger be able to uncover that they didn't want known? She herself had had to learn to get used to him practicing on her, telling her things about her day before she had a chance to tell him. You got used to it…eventually.

"H-how did you know that?" the woman stuttered out.

Besides her, another woman who was probably her friend asked, "Do you know that kid?"

"I don't think so..." the first woman said.

Ran resisted smiling. Shinichi was good at what he did. He didn't have to know someone to know things about him. She looked back from the woman to Shinichi, wondering what had tipped him off this time. He'd tell, he always did. And, of course, everyone would be appropriately amazed and shocked. No one ever told the people who were subjected to his analysis about the period in his lifetime where he'd randomly go up to people and ask to look at their hand, and quiz them about what they did. That had been...an interesting time of Ran's life. Embarrassing, but sort of funny, too. Shinichi wouldn't be stopped in his search for truth and learning skills to help him find that truth, even if he got into some interesting situations along the way.

"She's got calluses of her hand!" Shinichi declared hands behind his head, the showoff, "The only woman who'd get calluses like that would be one who worked with iron bars." That made sense, and as always, Shinichi was so happy at having figured out something on his own...and at being able to show off. Goofball.

"But you'd get calluses from playing tennis too," someone in the crowd pointed out.

"Actually, I figured it out when the wind blew her skirt up earlier," Shinichi admitted, "There was a unique bruise on her legs that could only be the sign of an accomplished master of the vertical bars. Constant, careful observation is the key to being a detective."

Ran considered hitting him for being a pervert, but decided not to. Shinichi had trained himself well, a little too well. He noticed practically everything around him, and it wasn't like he went around purposely looking up women's skirts. Still, he hadn't followed the rules by only using clues from her hand. She turned her head away from him and declared, "You are so full of yourself...you knew that before you even shook her hand, you cheater."

"Hey! Don't you be tryin' to make a pass at my friend, yeah!" a man declared. He had a woman hanging off of him, arms around his neck, and he was yelling at Shinichi? It was one thing to hold hands or snuggle a bit in public, but to be hanging off his neck? That was a bit much. Of course, to be fair, Shinichi had looked when the wind blew up the woman's skirt.

"Oh, so you're her friend," Shinichi said, "Would you like to cut ahead of us, then?" Ran smiled. Shinichi could be a dope, but he was a very considerate one. Just one more thing about Shinichi that she loved. Why did he have to be so lovable, anyways? It was very inconvenient for her.

"No thank you," the gymnast said, holding up a hand in front of her, "We shouldn't bother them."

Ran looked back at the couple who were now kissing. She blushed slightly, before looking back at the gymnast who looked a bit embarrassed and seemed a bit uncomfortable. If they were friends, they'd probably come to the park together, but he wasn't paying his friends much attention. Ran felt sorry for her. She'd probably hoped to spend time with her friend, but it seemed like all her friend wanted to do was make out with his girlfriend. Would she have to be like that someday, going places with Shinichi's girlfriend and being a third wheel? She shuddered. She really hoped not.

Ran noticed that they'd finally made it to the end of the line. Enough of the wool gathering, this was supposed to be a fun trip. She grabbed Shinichi's jacket (he seemed to be off thinking about something, who knew what) and said excitedly, "C'mon, c'mon, we're next!"

Ran was careful to not sit in the front of the car. She like roller coasters, but sometimes the front was a little too much. Shinichi, apparently back in the present, started talking again. "So, anyways, then Holmes..."

Ran looked behind her as two men jumped in line, both of them dressed in black suits. One of them had pushed away a little kid. Jerks. What sort of people came to an amusement park in a suit, anyways? She had half a mind too...

"You get it? What Holmes was trying to say..." Shinichi had apparently continued to talk, not noticing the fact that she'd been looking at something else. And he was still talking about Holmes. Holmes, Holmes, always Holmes!

"Would you just shut up about Holmes and this Conan Doyle already, you mystery otaku!" Ran yelled, unable to contain herself. Just once, once, she'd like to be able to have a normal conversation without Holmes in it. She saw how much she'd freaked him out, though, and suddenly felt bad. Maybe she should try to explain herself. "I was really looking forward to coming here with you, Shinichi! Why can't you understand my feelings?"

Crap, did she say feelings? She glanced over at Shinichi, who looked stunned. "R-ran..." he said, a bit of a blush on his face, "Um...well, um...I...you see..."

This was getting too dangerous. Shinichi was such a confident guy, he wouldn't be nervous unless...maybe he felt uncomfortable, wanted to let her down gently. She couldn't...she'd just wanted to spend the day with him...she couldn't admit to what she felt. What if he said no? What if he told her that he just didn't feel that way about her? He was already so far ahead of her, something like that might break their friendship up entirely. She couldn't deal with it, if that happened. Maybe it was selfish, but she didn't want to lose Shinichi completely.

She laughed, hoping he didn't notice the slight hysteria in her performance. "What are you getting so nervous about, idiot? I'm just kidding! You can't expect to be a detective if you fall for something like that!" She patted the disgruntled looking boy on the head.

The operator announced, "Now departing," and Ran took the opportunity to focus on something else, hoping she'd managed to salvage the situation. She looked over at him once more, still looking uncomfortable. "But..." she admitted, "I was really looking forward to this." She smiled at him.

"Eh?" Shinichi looked slightly confused. They were almost at the top of the hill. Ran closed her eyes and grabbed Shinichi's hand, probably a little too tightly. Shinichi always made her feel safer. She screamed as they went down the hill, unable to keep silent. She opened her eyes afterwards, and soon they entered the cavern part of the tunnel where they had all the creepy statues appearing out of nowhere. She couldn't help herself, she closed her eyes again. Soon after she did, she felt something wet, warm, hit her cheek. "What," she wondered, though not aloud, "Was that?"

She opened her eyes to look, just as they were coming out of the cave and was about to the end of the ride, when people started screaming. Ran turned around to look, because there wasn't anything in front of her, and the man, that man, his head was gone! Oh my god, that had been blood! She had a dead man's blood on her! She shrieked, but no one noticed, because everyone was freaking out too. Everyone but Shinichi. Shinichi immediately got out of the car as soon as it had slowed to a stop and Ran got out right behind him, sticking close. Everyone was yelling about getting an ambulance (what good would that do?) the police, and something about there being an accident. Accident? How could that be an accident?! Anything that could take off one person's head accidentally on a ride would have to at least hurt other people, if not killed them as well. It wasn't like the man was the first on the car or the last. Someone had murdered him, right behind her!

One of the workers took the body out of the car, and Shinichi crouched besides it. Ran continued to stick close to him, going so far as to grab his jacket. Shinichi would know what to do. They didn't know who the murderer was, but he'd figure it out, and she was going to stick close to him in the meantime. Anyone who'd murder someone on a roller coaster was crazy.

"Shinichi," she mumbled into his back, hoping he'd already have the answer.

He stood up. "Wait! This was not an accident," he declared, "It's a murder!"

Ran let go of the back of the jacket and grabbed his sleeve instead, looking over her shoulder at one of the men in black who'd looked like he was about to leave. He had been suspicious before everything, could it have been him? If he got too close to her or Shinichi or did anything suspicious, she was taking him down, no questions asked. Besides, they'd been riding behind the victim. It would have been easy to get him from behind.

Shinichi continued talking, "And the killer rode on the coaster with the victim," Shinichi stated, "One of us seven!" Well, Ran supposed that there was a faint possibility that he could have been murdered by someone stationed in the tunnel, but she thought it was pretty obvious that the killer had been riding. That was partially why she was nervous. She looked around at the other passengers.

One of the men in black suits, the broad one, said, "Psh...Bull shit, we're outta here!"

"Shinichi," Ran said, a slight question in her voice. Should she do something to stop them?

"Move, move, this is the police!" came the familiar voice of Inspector Megure, and Ran sighed with relief. The police were here, they'd be able to help. She moved away from Shinichi a bit, keeping an eye on the two men.

"Shit," one of them said, and they both pulled down their hats a little farther. Ran's hands clenched a little. Whether they were the murderers or not, they were nothing good.

"Ah, Inspector Megure!" Shinichi said, sounding a bit relieved as well.

Inspector Megure immediately brightened up and smiled. "Kudo-kun!" he said. Ran thought that he was a rather good sport about the fact that Shinichi solved so many of his cases, but they were getting solved, and that was what was important. She was just glad Inspector Megure didn't resent Shinichi. That would have made things a lot more difficult.

"What?! Kudo!" one of the men in black said. He looked even more nervous. Ran moved closer to Shinichi again, looking over her shoulder towards the two men. They wouldn't dare try anything with the police here, would they? She made sure to stay between them and Shinichi, just in case. Kudo was getting to be a little too famous. At least their surprise meant that they hadn't come for him.

Predictably, the crowd went a bit wild when they realized who Shinichi was.

"Wow! So that's the famous high school detective Kudo Shinichi!"

"The one they say solves all those unbelievably tricky cases!"

"The savior of the Japanese police department!" Ran winced a bit at that one. Not a very nice thing to say about the people who worked hard every day keeping people safe. She hoped Megure didn't hear that particular comment.

"Quick, come! It's Kudo-kun, Kudo-kun!" That sounded a bit like a fan girl's voice...damn…

"I've got to see this!"

Ran wondered how it went so quickly from pandemonium to a special side show. No one seemed to care that someone, a person, someone with friends and family, had just died. They just wanted to see the famous detective in action. As much as Shinichi loved the attention, he, at least, solved crimes because he didn't want anyone to get away with crimes like that. These people were just...

Soon Shinichi and Inspector Megure were kneeling in front of a diagram. Ran had moved away from Shinichi, but she was still keeping an eye on those two weirdoes while also listening to Shinichi's and Inspector Megure's conversation.

"Let me see if I have this right, Kudo-kun," Inspector Megure said, "On this roller coaster itself there were no signs of an accident or mechanical failure. From the circumstances, suicide was unlikely."

"Correct, Inspector! This was clearly a murder," Shinichi said.

"If we exclude you and Ran, we have five suspects," the Inspector continued. Ran was glad to know that the Inspector trusted her enough to know that. Sometimes it helped that her dad had used to be on the police force. Not that she would ever do something like this, but it was nice that other people knew and acknowledged that.

"In the first car, we have the victim's friend A and friend B. Riding in the third car with the victim was the victim's friend and lover C. Finally, the men in black riding behind the victim, D and E... However, with everyone wearing the safety guards and unable to move, the only one who could have killed him was the woman sitting next to him..."

The Inspector was interrupted by one of the men in black, the one with the weird, long blond hair. "Hey, hurry it up! We don't have time for this bull shit detective game..."

"Aniki!" said the other man, shocked.

Ran's hands were clenched. One wrong move, she told herself, one.

Shinichi was staring up at him. Ran couldn't blame Shinichi. The look in the man's eyes was cold, ruthless. He didn't care that someone had just been killed.

"Inspector! We just found this in the woman's bag!" one of the policemen said.

"It...It can't be," the girlfriend stuttered, looking at the bloody knife that had been found. "N-no! It wasn't me!" Ran didn't think it was that likely either. She didn't look like the kind of person who'd be hanging on so tightly, so adoringly, to the man she was about to kill. At least, Ran didn't think so. Besides, how would you be able to swing a blade like that hard enough to cut someone's head off in one go without hitting someone else accidentally in the dark. She didn't look strong enough to do it either. Ran's expertise was more in the martial arts, but it was enough to know that that woman wasn't strong enough to do it even if she did have enough room to swing it.

It would be all right though. Shinichi would figure it out, Ran assured herself. He always does. Especially something so simple.

The gymnast's friend was crying. "I thought you said you two were getting along well…why?" she asked.

"Okay, so the bitch did it!" the blond man said, "Let us go now, detective!"

Why was he in such a hurry? It was an amusement park, where did anyone have to go in a hurry? Somehow she doubted that he was afraid he'd miss some ride or something... On the other hand, he was acting so suspicious it was ridiculous. You'd think, if he was up to something, he'd have the brains to act more casual and LESS suspicious. Maybe he was just a petty criminal or something, afraid the cops would recognize him.

Ran looked behind her as she heard the crowd whisper to each other, disappointed.

"Oh...they found the killer easier than I thought they would have..."

"I thought that woman seemed a little fishy."

"So it was just a couple's fight, eh? Women are scary."

Ran knew he'd be able to figure out what really happened, but she hoped he'd do it soon. This was getting out of hand.

"Right, take her as a suspect," the Inspector barked.

"Y-you can't!" the girlfriend cried.

"Wait a minute, Inspector," Shinichi said, and Ran heaved a sigh of relief, "That person is not the killer...the killer is..."

Shinichi looked down for a minute, gathering himself, "You!" he declared, pointing at the gymnast. Ran blinked from shock. Her? Well, logically, if you thought about, a lot of people were killed by those they knew, and if it wasn't the girlfriend, then it was one of his two friends. Since the murdered person was two rows behind them, it would have to be someone agile, and a gymnast it obviously agile. However, still, how on earth could that be managed?

"What?! What are you talking about? Didn't you see them pull the knife out of Aiko's bag?" the gymnast asked. Ran sighed. She was just nailing her coffin tighter with that reaction. She probably did do it. If she was innocent, wouldn't her first reaction be more, "What?! I couldn't have! I'd never kill him!" not immediately commenting that evidence wasn't found on her like she might have if she'd thought about things before hand. She might not be a genius detective like Shinichi, but she wasn't dumb, and you'd have to be really dumb not to pick up things when you did hang around someone like Shinichi.

"You can't sever a human head with that..." Shinichi said, "Especially not with a woman's strength. And if she did kill him, there would have been plenty of chances to toss the weapon-no need to cover it with a cloth and hide it in the bag. Didn't you put that in her bag before hand?!" Okay, maybe not with a normal person's strength, but there were some woman who might be strong enough. He shouldn't just discriminate like that. Men.

"Of course I didn't!" the gymnast protested, "I was sitting two seats ahead of Kishida-kun! How could I have cut off his head?! You were the one who said it first. That a woman couldn't cut off his head."

"It certainly would be impossible with a woman's strength..." Shinichi admitted, "However, with the speed of the coaster and a steel hoop made from piano wire it can be done!"

The gymnast looked shocked, and stared, tears in her eyes, as Shinichi turned his attention away from her.

"May I have your assistance for a moment, officers?" Shinichi asked.

A few minutes later, the scene was set up. Shinichi began to explain. "I'm the murderer and the Inspector is the victim...see, everyone? First, when the safety guard is lowered, with an object like a bag on your back..." here he slipped out from under the safety guard, "You can get out quite easily. And then, next, prepared beforehand, you pickup something like a hoop with a hook on the end. Then, with your legs in the guard, you stretch your body forwards, throw the loop around the victim's neck-all of this in the darkness of the tunnel, of course. To finish the act, the hook attached to the other end of the rope is tossed onto the rail, and with the power and speed of the coaster, his head comes right off!" Ran thought it made sense, but wondered how on Earth the person sitting right next to her didn't notice. She'd certainly would if she was sitting next to someone. Maybe she had been keeping quiet to protect her friend?

Shinichi looked cheerful, the excitement of having figured out the trick evident. The gymnast, on the other hand, looked guilty. "That is outrageous! Where is your proof?!"

Shinichi sighed before staring her straight in the eyes. "Let me ask you...the pearl necklace you were wearing before the ride...just where is it now?"

The gymnast eyes overfilled with tears as Shinichi continued, no longer looking happy, just resolved. "You most likely exchanged the necklace string for the piano wire and had the hook hidden in your bag. Furthermore, you are a gymnast! Unlike the other woman, with your finely trained sense of balance, only you could do this on a roller coaster!!"

The gymnast's friend, looking outraged, spoke up. "Now just wait a minute! What about those two?" she was pointing at the two men in black, "Couldn't they have done it more easily from behind?"

Shinichi stared at the men for a moment before his answer. "They are certainly suspicious, but they are innocent. I don't know who they are...but they would not have stuck around when the police came!! They would have known this would easily happen if they had done it!! And..." Shinichi trailed off, looking at the gymnast, and his voice turned a little softer, "the murderer knew she was killing the victim...so she shed a tear before she did it. Once we left the tunnel and realized he was dead, it was maybe two or three seconds until we got into the station. In other words, no one riding the coaster other than the killer would have been able to shed such large tears..."

The gymnast's friend spoke up again, pointing towards the gymnast. "So are you saying that you saw Hitomi crying on the ride?" Even she was starting to look shaken.

"Her tear tracks are unshakable truth. Only on a roller coaster...would tear flow sideways."

Hitomi burst into tears again. "He was awful everyone! He dumped me!"

"H-Hitomi...you mean you went out with Kishida-kun?" Hitomi's friend asked. She was acting genuinely surprised, maybe she didn't realize anything. She just must be a very oblivious person.

"Yes!" Hitomi shouted, "We were in love a long time before I met you in college! And then..." she turned to glare at the victim's girlfriend, "He dumped me for a woman like Aiko...so...so...at the place where we went on our first date, with the necklace he gave me, framing Aiko for it...I WANTED TO KILL HIM!!"

Long after they'd left the crime scene, Ran was still having trouble keeping back the tears. It was partially because of the murder, but it was more that she had been identifying with Hitomi before everything happened. Would she ever be that jealous, when Shinichi found someone else? Would he parade his girlfriend around like that? She didn't think she could bear it if he did. She'd never be able to kill him of course, but...she knew her heart would break, to know that Shinichi loved someone else. What would she do, if that happened?

"Hey, c'mon, don't cry..." Shinichi said, his voice worried.

"How can you be so calm after that?" Ran asked, wiping her tears as she glared at him. How could he deal with having to see dead people, to solve crimes, to not so much as understand the victim, but to understand the killer, and figure out how he or she pulled it off? She'd just identified with one and she was feeling awful. How did he do it, and still remain sane, remain her Shinichi?

"Oh, I've been around lots of crime scenes, so I see a lot of bodies in pieces..." Shinichi admitted, scratching the back of his head.

The images that floated into her mind after that almost made her want to throw up. Not just seeing them, but what if the person murdering people decided to try and kill him, and cut him into pieces? She'd worried about him before, but now, seeing this. "Oh my god," Ran sobbed a little harder.

"H-hey, just forget about it, okay? This kind of thing happens a lot," Shinichi said.

A lot? "It does not!" Ran protested. It couldn't. She knew it happened, but Ran didn't want to imagine it happening as regularly as he implied. She didn't want Shinichi to do this sort of thing every day.

Ran kept working on drying her tears, trying to make them stop, when suddenly Shinichi said, "Sorry Ran, go on ahead of me!!"

"Eh?" Ran said, confused. Where was Shinichi going? Why? At a time like this?

"I'll catch up with you right away," Shinichi promised.

He's leaving...Shin..."Shinichi," she said, staring after him as he ran away. Why...why do I have this feeling...the feeling that I will never see him again...? He's Shinichi though. He'll be back. He promised. He always keeps his promises. He'll be back. I just...I just have to believe. With that, Ran sighed, and decided to head home and wait for Shinichi to call. She would wait for him, like she always did, but Shinichi was worth it. She just had to have faith.

"He'll be back," she said, her voice hardly shaking as she repeated her new charm against this overwhelming premontion danger, "He promised."

End

Well, that is it, the last chapter of Truth Will Prevail. Hope everyone liked it! Sorry about the wait! For further news about updates, check out my profile. I'll explain things there. Also, by the way, somehow while I was writing this, I keep thinking, wait a moment, aren't some of these things obvious? And seriously, you'd think two extremely professional top of the line evil guys would act better. They're painting a big target on their faces, saying "I'm a suspicious, evil bad guy, look at me!" Shouldn't they know to be a little more discreet? Ran ended up commenting on some of those things for me. Oh well…anyways, hope I made everything fit together and that you enjoyed it. I've enjoyed writing it, and find myself a bit sad that it's pretty much over. Thanks for sticking with me!

~Forgotten Lake


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